how to restart over very steep road?

[pagheca]

Good morning,

I live on a small island in the Atlantic and after much thought I bought an e-mtb which I have been using for a few weeks now to ride up and down the island. WHAT A FUN!!! But I'm serious: the island is very 'vertical' and full of roads and lanes with gradients that often reach and exceed 30%, as well as surfaces often made of unpolished stones, suitable for goats, less so for differently-young people who haven't cycled for 4 years, i.e. since I have been living in this little paradise.

And this is where the problem comes from: thank goodness to whoever invented the e-bikes but... sometimes I find myself having to stop for a particularly bumpy section or to pass under the chain that closes the entrance of the driveway to my house (33% gradient) and not being able to start again! In fact, I don't have enough room to reach speed and therefore momentum, to keep my balance while preventing the bike from twisting over my head. I've tried them all: from using the Turbo to various combinations of gears, but I always end up to walk mode, pushing the bike up and up.

Can anyone advise me on the right technique to achieve this? The question may look silly but it's really really frustrating not being able to do that, specially when off-road...

Cheers

 

[Mabman]

Gear down into your lowest ratio before you stop. Select the highest assistance and try to attack the hill as perpendicular as possible to help get going enough to activate the PAS. About all you can do unless you have a throttle.

 

[Mteam]

Good morning,

I live on a small island in the Atlantic and after much thought I bought an e-mtb which I have been using for a few weeks now to ride up and down the island. WHAT A FUN!!! But I'm serious: the island is very 'vertical' and full of roads and lanes with gradients that often reach and exceed 30%, as well as surfaces often made of unpolished stones, suitable for goats, less so for differently-young people who haven't cycled for 4 years, i.e. since I have been living in this little paradise.

And this is where the problem comes from: thank goodness to whoever invented the e-bikes but... sometimes I find myself having to stop for a particularly bumpy section or to pass under the chain that closes the entrance of the driveway to my house (33% gradient) and not being able to start again! In fact, I don't have enough room to reach speed and therefore momentum, to keep my balance while preventing the bike from twisting over my head. I've tried them all: from using the Turbo to various combinations of gears, but I always end up to walk mode, pushing the bike up and up.

Can anyone advise me on the right technique to achieve this? The question may look silly but it's really really frustrating not being able to do that, specially when off-road...

Cheers

Ride across the road to get some motion going on the flat then turn the bike and ride up the road

 

[Mikerb]

@Mteam has it right assuming you have that option. If not there are a couple of things you can try. The first is to get on both cranks (level cranks), leant forward over the bars in a low gear and turbo mode.................whilst holding both brakes on and then releasing the rear brake and progressively releasing the front brake. This assumes you have decent levels of grip and are reasonably proficient at doing a track stand. Another method ( depending how your walk assist works on your bike) is to use walk assist momentarilly to negate any delay between applying torque to the pedals and getting the motor assist to kick in. I doubt either will work however if you are having to stop and raise a chain at your drive entrance before riding beneath it so your only answer there is to find an user friendly alternative to the chain.....Like a electric gate

 

[pagheca]

thanks guys. Unfortunately the house is rented and an electric gate is out of questions. Anyway, it happened also somewhere else.

I will try to follow @Mikerb suggestions. The road are also so narrow that every time I tried to start perpendicularly I... risked falling down on the down side. I need to improve my balance skills maybe.

 

[Jeff McD]

Same problem on our off-road ultra steep trails. While switching to the easiest gear helps, sometimes I spin out or just lose balance too quickly with that and have to start over. What worked for me was to go back to Eco if I am in trail or turbo mode to keep the rear wheel from spinning out from excessive torque, and since not moving so fast that I lose balance. Easier to start slow with less battery assist and with the bike pointing straight up the hill and leaning forward so the bike doesn't loop out. With this technique I don't have to shift down to the lowest gear to get started because then it's too low when you are barely moving and that creates its own problems with balance. Then as soon as get 1-2 rotations of pedals, hit the button to trail mode and then again to turbo to maintain speed so you don't bog down. This works best on loose gravel. After doing a bunch of times you get very quick at getting back up to speed in Turbo. In summary, it's just much easier to not mess up restarting if you are in the lowest assist mode. Hope this helps.

 

[Bomble]

Depending on the slope and grip available, I sometimes find it helps to set off with the seat fully down but lean forward.
Then as soon as you get a little momentum put the seat back up

 

[rod9301]

Yeah, lower your seat, sit down so you have traction, chest over handlebars.

That will do it unless it's crazy steep.

And starting with less angle to the fall line

 

[pagheca]

Thanks again everyone guys. I will give it a try this afternoon. I must find a solution. It's really annoying to be unable to do something like that!

 

[unclezz]

Beside what was already suggested, especially on your body position, it is good to practice how to leverage brakes to start. This way:
- brakes in
- start pushing on the pedal that you moved at the most vertical position you can get (with your favourite or available foot)
- while pushing on the pedal, gently release your brakes and start pedalling before release brakes completely.

It requires practice. So find a few places with different inclinations and terrains and practice until you are comfortable with the technique. Then you can apply it anywhere.

 

[maynard]

Don't stop !!! Keep spinning. Try using brakes to control ur ascent In turbo .

 

[irie]

If starting up a steep hill raising the seat helps to prevent the front wheel lifting.

 

[pagheca]

Today I tested various "configurations"... It was an interesting but very tiring experiment for my limited resources. At the end I was able to restart, combining some of the suggestions you all gave me.

The "best" combination I found for myself was:

Assistance setting: eMTB
Sprocket setting: 9 or 10 out of 12 (I don't know the exact gear ratio)
Saddle: down, released as soon as I gain some balance
Position: all toward the handlebar
Direction: parallel to the road

Thanks so much, everyone.

 

[veryoldfart]

Yeah, lower your seat, sit down so you have traction, chest over handlebars.

That will do it unless it's crazy steep.

And starting with less angle to the fall line

Another vote for lowering saddle and NOT using turbo mode ( which if loose underfoot/wheel then rear wheel will lose traction), raise saddle as soon as you have regained momentum and are heading uphill. Also agree you need to keep your weight forward on handlebars if its really steep to stop front wheel coming up .

 

[pagheca]

yeah! I just got back from a long ride and restarting in several muddy situations and at home was a piece of cake, after the good suggestions I got above and the "trial and error" session the other day...

 

[Expidia]

You might go through chains and sprockets quicker due to stretching from these high torque motors. Someone suggested in a Youtube I watched that these chains on ebikes have similar high torque stress to that of a Harley Daividson motorcycle! Even if you can change worn components yourself, it's not cheap if you have to change them too often. And worse if your LBS does it for you and then you may lose the bike for a time while its in the shop. I'd opt for using walk mode on that steep incline, since it's the last leg to your home everytime with each trip and thats a lot of chain stress as others have already suggested.

I'm guessing these chains on most ebikes are mostly still the same chains they use on analog bikes (which have a lot less chain stress). Time will tell. Buy a cheap $10 chain wear checker (Amazon), so you can track excess chain wear stretching from the "constant" over torquing every trip home from that hill.

Once chain starts stretching you will know it as it will start to jump on the cassette sprockets. You said you don't use the lowest gear (easiest) which is smart as I've read using the smallest gears or highest gears on the sprocket constantly, puts more stress on the chain due to the angles of the chain between the sprockets and the pedal crank.

 

[pagheca]

thank you, good point...

Actually, I've already gotten used to the idea that the strain of all these extreme climbs will not be light on my poor Trek Powerfly 7, even though I don't add much of my own, never use the highest setting (Turbo), and very rarely the next (eMtb). The gearing due to the high ratio should also improve things.

Instead, I would frankly not be concerned by the comparison to a Harley Davidson. There is clearly no match between the two vehicles. Just consider the mass of them and the torque of the two motors, plus the fact that ebike motors management system do not instantaneously output the maximum torque at the start, you can see this from the power values that rarely pass 150 W. Otherwise, the bicycle would flip in an instant or loose traction.

I am planning to buy one of these tools (in the shop. Amazon doesn't deliver where I live). Btw, this is a picture of my lovely baby from today ride:

 

[Expidia]

thank you, good point...

Actually, I've already gotten used to the idea that the strain of all these extreme climbs will not be light on my poor Trek Powerfly, even though I don't add much of my own, never use the highest setting (Turbo), and very rarely the next (eMtb). The gearing due to the high ratio should also improve things.

Instead, I would frankly not be concerned by the comparison to a Harley Davidson. There is clearly no comparison between the two vehicles. Just consider the mass and momentum of the two motors, plus the fact that ebike motors do not instantaneously emit maximum momentum at the start, you can see this from the power values that rarely pass 150 W. Otherwise, the bicycle would flip in an instant or loose traction.

Just something I saw and heard on Youtube about these Emtb motors putting high stress on the chain. Time will certainly tell! I also have a Powerfly and I purchased the FS9 Equipped version with supposedly high end components, but I bet my chain is not an upgraded version and probably the same chain as on their anaolog bikes . . . just my guess.

 

[pagheca]

Just something I saw and heard on Youtube about these Emtb motors putting high stress on the chain. Time will certainly tell! I also have a Powerfly and I purchased the FS9 Equipped version with supposedly high end components, but I bet my chain is not an upgraded version and probably the same chain as on their anaolog bikes . . . just my guess.

sure. Thanks again, it will certainly be a problem. But once more: is not only a question of max motor torque but also of total mass, power and torque curves, and slope of course.

I envy you a little bit, btw... I too would have liked an "equipped" but here I would have had to wait too long to get it.

 

[Expidia]

sure. Thanks again, it will certainly be a problem. But once more: is not only a question of max motor torque but also of total mass, power and torque curves, and slope of course.

I envy you a little bit, btw... I too would have liked an "equipped" but here I would have had to wait too long to get it.

My local Trek stores said to me back in July that they can order my model for a July 2023 delivery .
So I called Trek customer service and they found a store 2.3 hrs away from my house.
So I called that Trek store and the guy said they had one on order for store stock for a year and it came in 3 days ago.

I said it's a 4:40 hour round trip for me and what time do you open?

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face the entire drive back and forth

* not to hijack the OP post, but the Equipped version comes with the Bosch Smart Hub. After 1,000 miles with it . . . I'm not a fan.
So last week, I ordered a Bosch Nyon retrofit kit ($416 MSRP and the shop gave me a 10% discount). It's arriving next week.
I'll re-sell the Smart Hub. I called Bosch, unit will work with all Bosch system 2 drives.

 

[pagheca]

lucky guy! Problem is I live in a small island, with just one shop. The "next" shop would require at least a ferry trip...

 

[pagheca]

... and then I saw this

Subida imposible de momento!!! 37% una locura que nadie ha hecho…😱😱#vtt #bike #mtb #btt #bikepark

youtube.com